


Pain in Her Voice

by marshmallowember



Category: Splatoon
Genre: If you're tired of content where Callie puts the shades back on like a careless moron, Post-Splatoon 2, Trigger warnings in author's notes, implied PTSD, lots of pain, lots of trauma, well you're in the right place because there's none of that here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29280450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshmallowember/pseuds/marshmallowember
Summary: After the events of Splatoon 2, Marie expects Callie will just bounce back from it and be happy again, like always. Callie's never let anything bother her, she's only ever had a smile on her face. But something about this was...different.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> If you clicked on this fic, I hope you like pain. This chapter is a lot longer than the rest of them will be, since it's a prologue which starts roughly in the middle of the Squid Sisters Stories and goes all the way past the ending of Splatoon 2, and right off the bat we have three trigger warnings: one for death-baiting internet trolls, one for a panic attack, and one for implied starvation.

Marie was on the train, heading back to Inkopolis.

Why hadn't Callie ever shown up? Callie had been so excited for this trip, so excited to spend some time away from everything with Marie...so it didn't make any sense that she didn't come.

Awful thoughts were racing through Marie's head.

_Maybe something horrible happened to her on the way to the train station._

_Maybe she's somewhere scared right now, all alone..._

_Maybe she's trapped, trying to escape..._

_Maybe she's screaming to me for help, despite knowing I can't hear her..._

_Maybe she's dead._

_No...come on, Marie. If Callie were here, she'd tell you to stop thinking like that. That's ridiculous, what could've possibly happened to her?_

Marie tried calling Callie yet again. No response.

And again. No response.

Marie sighed. _Callie...please, be okay..._

* * *

When the train arrived in Inkopolis, Marie rushed back to her and Callie's apartment.

Nothing.

There was no sign Callie had even been home after her appointment. Her luggage was still there, her jacket was still gone...

Marie's anxiety was rising. _What if...Octavio is involved in this somehow. But how would he be able to do anything in his snowglobe prison? Unless..._

She rushed out to Octavio's snowglobe. Or at least, what was left of it.

Shattered glass was everywhere, and Octavio looked to be long gone. Despite this, Cuttlefish Cabin appeared undisturbed, and despite her looking thoroughly, there were no clues there as to Octavio's whereabouts or Callie's. Still, it didn't take a genius to connect the dots. Octavio escaped, Callie was gone...

_Octavio has Callie._

_If he even touches her, I'm going to kill him._

Marie's mind was racing with thoughts yet again. Since Cap'n Cuttlefish had been on a secret mission with Agent Three for the last two months, both of them unreachable, there was only one person she could turn to for advice on what to do now.

* * *

"SHELDON!"

Marie practically kicked down the door of Ammo Knights with her adrenaline rushing.

"Marie! What the shell happened, you're pale as a-"

She grabbed him by the shoulders. "OCTAVIO HAS CALLIE!" she yelled.

"Wh-what?!"

"Octavio is gone, Callie is gone, he has her!"

"Wasn't Callie supposed to go on that trip with you?"

"She never showed up, that's why I came home early to look for her! When I saw that Octavio was gone too..." Marie was near-hyperventilating. "I'm so worried about Callie that I came to _you_ for advice!"

"Okay, um...if Cap'n Cuttlefish were here, what would he do?"

"I- I don't know! Cod, all I can think about is Callie, I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack over here!"

"Why don't you just go down and look for her yourself?"

"I can't! I want to, but this could take days...maybe even weeks, but I hope to cod it doesn't...do you _honestly_ think Inkopolis could handle _both_ of us vanishing? It'll be one thing having Callie gone, but if I disappeared because I went off to go look for her, it'd only add to the chaos...a-a-and _suspicion_! The NSS is a secret group, how the shell are we going to explain _any_ of this? Obviously we'll have to say _something_ , considering Callie's going to be absent from every event she was supposed to be in until further notice, not to mention she posts to social media like two thousand times a day, I wouldn't be surprised if people were _already_ sending her concerned messages about her abrupt radio silence! I-"

"Marie, slow down, we can't solve all our problems at once...you and Callie are the biggest idols in all of Inkopolis, surely we could string together an excuse that some crazy obsessed stalker fan took her or something?"

"I...I guess so..."

"You do have a point though, if you disappeared to go look for her it would make things more chaotic for everyone. Have you called the police yet? The authorities could potentially help look for clues, or even just spread the word in case anyone's seen anything...I _know_ discretion is important for NSS things, but if you're not going to go down there yourself then we need all the help we can get.."

"You're right, I need to do that..." Marie was pacing, trying not to hyperventilate.

"Hey, I know you can't go down there and look for her yourself, but why don't you just...have someone go down _for you_?"

"Like...recruit a new agent?"

"Yeah! Go out and find someone off the street, just like how Three was recruited!"

"Do I really have the authority to go recruit someone like that, though...? Without asking?"

"Do you have a choice?"

* * *

Marie had her head down, trying to avoid attention. She was in Inkopolis Square, seeking out a new agent.

Which wasn't easy to do when she had her head down, trying to avoid attention.

At this point, Marie had already alerted the authorities. She had explained to them what happened, omitting the part about Octavio. Now, Marie was typing up an official announcement for the Squid Sisters' social media pages. As much as she didn't want to do it, she would much rather the public find out about Callie's disappearance straight from Marie as opposed to having it speculated on by hysterical fans and/or leaked by a reporter looking to make a quick buck on being the first one to break the news.

The announcement read:

**To all our wonderful fans out there, this is Marie speaking. I know I rarely display my emotions so openly, but I have some tragic news to share that has left me heartbroken and afraid. My cousin, Callie, has gone missing. Local authorities have been alerted, and currently, the situation is being treated as a squidnapping case.**

**At this point, it may go without saying, but every one of Callie's scheduled performances and appearances have been cancelled until further notice. Any solo appearances of mine are still on, but expect me to step away from social media until this is resolved.**

**We have very little information on her whereabouts, however there is currently no reason to believe she's dead, which means we can still hope for a safe return.**

She hit "post".

It took less than a minute for the responses to start flooding in. Lots of "oh my cod"s and "I'm so sorry"s were filling up the comments section, along with rows and rows of prayer emojis, heart emojis, and hug emojis.

And within five minutes, came the trolls.

"LOL this is probably FAKE! Attention whores!"

"Who wants to bet Callie ran away because she was mad about the Splatfest?"

"I hope she killed herself, lmao"

"Yeah there's no way she isn't dead, someone probably murdered her and it'll probably come out in a few days that her body was already in a ditch when this was posted. Bet Marie did it, it's always the family members after money or smth."

"Callie ran away to commit suicide, I bet. I hope that worthless piece of trash who's always been inferior to Marie finally pulls the trigger."

"PUBLICITY STUNT!"

"Callie COULD'VE also just ran off and hid someplace because she was humiliated after the Splatfest, but SURE go on I'm totally listening to your story about how it was a squidnapping."

Marie wanted to throw her phone into a ravine.

* * *

After several long, agonizing weeks of searching...

"Wait...is that...? CALLIE?!"

"I told you to leave..."

"Callie...why?"

"Now you leave me no choice...prepare to be rocked! Hey, DJ!"

"Octavio in da houuuuuuuuse! GYAH HA HA! I REMIXED CALLIE'S BRAIN!"

_He. WHAT._

_Oh my cod what do we do I don't know how the hell to cure brainwashing how is this happening I mean I'm glad Callie's not working for Octavio willingly but somehow this isn't much better-!_

Marie felt faint. Her breathing was getting heavier and shakier, and her heart was pounding so hard that her chest hurt. She faintly heard Sheldon, who was standing next to her, whisper something under his breath that involved the words "panic attack" - which was when she realized she was having one. She wanted to say something, but at the same time, was at a complete loss for words.

* * *

Agent Four could barely hear Marie and Sheldon's voices through the loud music. Since Four hadn't known Callie before this, it was significantly easier for her to stay collected - it didn't hit as personally as it did for them.

Still, Four kept on her toes. This was it, the battle she had been working up towards, after all. She could faintly hear Marie and Sheldon directing her, along with Marie shouting things such as "That's it, Agent 4! Show no mercy!" and "SNAP OUT OF IT, CALLIE!".

Eventually, Octavio was exposed. The music paused abruptly, and as Four attacked him, Marie used the opportunity.

"Callie! It's me. Your cousin, Marie. Try to remember!" she pleaded. Marie and Sheldon were on their way over, now that Marie's panic attack had mostly subsided.

"DJ! DROP THAT WASABI BEAT!"

Callie hadn't even acknowledged her. She wasn't even sure if Callie could hear her in this state. But, she had to try.

When the music started up again, Four started attacking again. Thankfully, it wasn't long before Marie and Sheldon arrived to help her.

"I'm here! Hold on!" Marie shouted. Quickly, she sniped the shades off of Callie's face.

Callie screamed, half in pain and half in shock.

"NOOOOO! The hypnoshades!" Octavio yelled.

"YES! That was a direct hit with my special low-tide ink!" Marie began to feel some hope as she saw Callie appear disoriented. "Now, Agent 4! While Callie is stunned! Make DJ Octavio pay!"

* * *

Callie was dizzy, and her head was pounding. She was cold, clammy, and she felt pins and needles throughout her entire body. It was like she was just getting sensation back in her body for the first time in...well, she had no clue how long it had been. Her sense of time had been completely distorted, and even now, she still had almost no awareness of what was going on. Her vision was darkened and blurry. Every sound, except for Octavio's voice, sounded like it was miles away. And yet, Marie's gentle but sorrowful singing voice was cutting through it all.

Callie's thoughts were barely coherent, layering over each other. _Obey Octavio. Obey- no, Marie- obey him, he is your master- Marie help me- ignore her. Octavio is the only thing that matters. Marie's voice is so warm and kind- stop it, keep singing for him. Keep dancing for him._

"Time to turn the tables! Spicy speed mode!" Octavio was desperately trying to get Callie back, knowing fully well he was beginning to lose control over her.

She stumbled through the choreography. Though her mind told her to continue to listen to Octavio, something about it no longer felt right.

 _Why am I doing this? Why do I listen to him- he's the enemy- no, no, she's just confusing me! She's making me doubt everything! But maybe I should doubt it, this feels wrong- listen to Octavio. He will guide me. He will fix my shades, and take away all the doubt and pain_. Callie's mind was going back and forth. Yet she was coming out of it, slowly but surely.

"WAKE UP, CALLIE!" Marie shouted.

Callie groaned again. She was confused, scared, and thought she was going to pass out.

"My- my head..." she mumbled, hardly able to even stand. Her life with Marie was flashing before her eyes as her memory was returning to normal.

"The low-tide ink is working!" Marie pulled out a boombox. "Callie! Remember! That heavenly melody!"

The boombox was playing a catchy melody...one that gave Callie a wave of familiarity. Those words, she felt like she had heard them many times before...and then, it hit her.

"The one and only...I...I remember...YEAH!" She lept over to Marie, and the two began to sing and dance together. 

" _Ya weni marei mirekyarahire_

_Juri yu mirekerason_

_Kire hyari yoriherahe nyurahera_

_Nunnyura unera yurawera nyimerani..._ "

* * *

When the song was over, there was a silence between the two as the weight of what just happened began to set in.

"Callie...I love you."

"I love you two, Marie..."

The two embraced in a hug, before Marie froze. 

"Oh holy carp you're thin. Wasn't Octavio feeding you?!"

"I...I don't remember...I hardly remember any of it...the whole thing's a big blur, maybe I don't want to know...how long was I under the shades' control exactly...?"

"Fifty-seven days."

"What- are you serious?"

"I counted."

"...I'd like to go home now, please."

Callie was dead silent the entire way back. 


	2. The First Night Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we're introduced to a plush Zapfish, named Zappy, that gets used as an attempt at comfort. The key word here is "attempt". Trigger warnings for starvation mentions, refusal to eat, self-hate, and a night terror.

The moment Callie and Marie walked into their apartment, Callie laid down on the couch. 

"Marie, I have a migraine...do we have any medicine for that left in the cabinet...?" Callie asked, breaking her long silence.

"Yeah, I think so...you just rest, I'll grab some for you."

"Thanks..."

Marie brought out some medicine, and gave it to Callie, who quickly took it. She then tucked Callie in with a pillow and blanket to make her more comfortable.

"Is there anything else I can get you? Food, something to drink, maybe some more-" Marie paused. She had an idea.

When Callie and Marie were only five years old, Marie had sewn her a plush Zapfish as a holiday gift. Callie adored the plush, naming "him" Zappy, and still slept with the plush every night. She also still had a tendency to cuddle the plush whenever she was stressed. If anything would help Callie feel better right now, it would be Zappy. Sure enough, moments later...

"Can you go get Zappy...?" Callie asked quietly.

"Yeah, he's in my room. I'll go get him."

"Why was he in _your_ room?"

"He uh...he really missed you, so I was keeping him company for you." Marie refused to admit it, but the truth was, she had been cuddling the plush at night during Callie's absence as a way to cope with her _own_ loneliness.

"I see..." Callie looked down, picking up on the fact that Marie was projecting. "Well, I hope he wasn't too lonely while I was...gone..."

Marie brought the plush out to Callie, hoping it would cheer her up. "Zappy was very worried about you, but look! See how happy he is now that you're home and you're safe?"

"Yeah..." Callie hugged Zappy and began to cry. "I don't know what's wrong with me...I'm home, I'm safe, I should be happy...so why am I still miserable?"

"You're probably just a bit shaken up by what happened, which is understandable...what he did to you was serious. Just take a deep breath...and seriously, I'm really concerned with when the last time you had food was, you look thin enough that I'd believe you were starved for the entire fifty seven days he had you. How about I get you a sandwich? I know you love grilled ch-"

"I'm not hungry."

" _Callie_."

Callie knew Marie was serious when she used that tone. "Look, I guess...between the headache and the stress, I really don't have an appetite _at all_...in fact, I feel a little nauseated if anything...I'll eat in the morning, okay? I just need to sleep off the stress..."

Marie truly had no clue how to deal with the situation at hand properly. So, she caved. "Fine..."

Callie shifted around uncomfortably as she tried to think of a way to change the subject. "Did anything important happen while I was gone?"

"Well...we need a new talent manager." This was accompanied with a deep sigh.

"Wait, really? Why?"

"After I announced your disappearance, there were a lot of trolls and conspiracy theorists and such, that insisted you were, quote, 'dead in a ditch somewhere'...and most of that group also thought that you had been murdered by _me_ for some reason. Unfortunately, _our own manager_ was among those who assumed your disappearance meant you were dead, and she, again I quote, 'didn't want to be involved with' us anymore."

" _Great_." Sarcasm. 

"Don't worry about it too much, Cal. We're the Squid Sisters, there's not a talent manager in Inkopolis that _wouldn't_ want us. Besides, _most_ of our fans were supportive, I guess it just goes to show that some people jump to conclusions and finger-pointing quick, even about something as serious as a squidnapping."

"You actually told them that it was a squidnapping?" Callie was a bit surprised. _I would've thought she'd want to be a bit more secretive about it..._

"Yeah...obviously people would _know_ you were gone, because you wouldn't be at any of the events you were scheduled to be at, and we couldn't just leave that with no explanation...so Sheldon and I came up with a cover story that it was 'an obsessed stalker fan' who took you. Which reminds me, I should let the fans know you're okay..."

Marie took out her phone. Too exhausted to give a lengthy statement, she simply typed the words "Callie is home and safe!" and posted it. 

Fairly quickly, Callie's phone was flooded with DMs:

"Callie, we're so glad you're okay!"

"I was so worried, every day I looked at my Squid Sisters poster and cried!"

"Omg, you're alive! What happened to you?"

"I prayed for you every single night, it's a relief to hear you're finally home!"

"My friend is a huge fan of yours and she talked about you non-stop every single day that you were missing!"

At that point, Callie started to cry again. "I'm supposed to make people HAPPY, that's all I ever wanted! I'm a failure as an idol for worrying them...and I'm a failure as an agent for getting captured in the first place! I don't deserve to have so many people worrying about me..."

"What-" Marie was taken aback by Callie's abrupt self-hate. _She's never talked about herself like that before._ "Slow down, okay? You're not a failure at anything, it's not your fault..."

"Sorry, I-I don't know where that all came from..." Callie's dark thoughts were startling even to herself. Just as Marie noticed Callie hadn't talked badly about herself before, Callie had never really even _thought_ badly about herself before either. "...I should go to bed. I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning..."

"Yeah, it's super late...please, just get some rest."

* * *

It was about an hour later when Marie decided to go to bed herself. She had just tucked herself in, when...

"Marie...can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Callie was standing in the doorway of Marie's bedroom.

"Of course..." _N_ _ormally this would feel a little weird, considering she's a little old for this, but she's been through a lot...besides, I'm just glad to have her back,_ Marie thought as she moved over so Callie had a place to lay down. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Callie laid down next to Marie. "I didn't even get as far as falling asleep...for some reason, I kept feeling like _he_ was right behind me, ready to take me again while I was alone...I know it's dumb, it's just sleep-deprived paranoia...but I'd still feel safer being with you."

Marie wrapped Callie in a comforting hug. "Look, I know I'm not really the affectionate type, but...I'm just really glad to have you home. This place felt so quiet without you...every morning I'd wake up and go into your room, hoping it was all just a dream and that you were safe...you're my best friend, you mean the world to me...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I really love you. Please, don't ever forget that."

Callie smiled a bit. "Wow, that was really sweet...I love you too..."

"Do you remember how inseparable we were as kids? Our moms would always joke that they'd need a _crowbar_ to pry us off of each other. I just- I feel like we've been apart a lot more than I want us to be, we were pretty distant in the couple months or so leading up to your squidnapping...but I want us to be close again, the way we were as kids...okay Cal?" No response. "Uh...Callie- oh."

Callie had fallen asleep, clinging to Marie. 

"Sweet dreams, Callie..."

* * *

Callie was not having sweet dreams. 

She was having a nightmare. 

Octavio was in his large octo form (as usual), with a tentacle wrapped around Callie's entire body tight enough to restrain her. 

Callie was thrashing around, trying to get free. "Let me go! MARIE, HELP ME! MARIE!" 

Lights flashed in front of Callie's face. They were so bright, she could see them even with her eyes shut. Her mind was slowly becoming fuzzy, despite her attempts at resistance.

Octavio was laughing.

"No! No, this is what happened the first time! Marie, where are you...? This can't be happening again! This is a dream, this isn't real! He can't have me again! Somebody help...no! _No_!"

* * *

"HELP!"

Callie woke up shrieking. 

"Callie, Callie, hey, it wasn't real, you're safe..." Marie was no longer in bed. Instead, she was standing right next to Callie, looking concerned. 

"It really wasn't real...wait, why are you standing there-"

"You were yelling and flailing a lot in your sleep, I figured you needed a little space but I didn't want to leave you either. You were having a night terror...can I ask what it was about? Do you remember?"

"It- he had the shades again, he was restraining me again...and a part of me knew even in the nightmare that it wasn't real, but it still FELT so real that I was terrfied!"

"Was it...a lot like when he _actually_ put the shades on you?" Marie's real question was, "were you really so panicked then that you were screaming for me, even though you knew I wasn't around to hear you at the time?", but she knew better than to outright ask _that_. 

Callie silently nodded. 

"Oh...can I give you another hug?"

"Always..."

Marie gave Callie yet another hug. "I can't even imagine how scared you were...but I'm here for you now, okay? I'm going to support you however I can..."


End file.
